The Hard Life
by mew-tsubaki
Summary: M&MWP, oneshot, light slash, slight AU. These days Regulus is a hero, Gideon is a bit of an antagonist, and family is a craft...as in, it's totally makeshift. A happy Regulus story, which is possible. Seriously! Mention if used, thx. *established!Regideon; slight language* *Happy birthday, Morghen!


**The Hard Life**

A HariPo oneshot

by mew-tsubaki

Note: The _Harry Potter_ characters belong to J.K. Rowling, not me. The pairing** Regulus/Gideon **is a **Mew and Mor's Weird Pairing**, which you may find in the **M&MWP forum** (see my profile for details).Check out and join the forum FUN! Read, review, and enjoy! Note: This is inspired partially by a tumblr post found at karenstarrs' tumblr. [post/ 88799895732/ all-your-favorite-male-characters-as-fathers-all] (take out the spaces and such to get there; sorry about the formatting—FFN is a bitch about links).

Happy birthday, **Morghen**! I'm on time this year! ;D

- ^-^3

Regulus turned up the collar of his cloak as the gentle rain came down a little more urgently. "Can't we go home yet?"

"I just asked for a little walk outside, Reg," Gideon breathed, sighing dramatically. "You're such a coach potato, you know."

"Hey, I'm active!"

"Correction—you _were_ active. That was five years ago. You played Quidditch."

"And you know what? I could still wipe the floor with you, Prewett, seeing as you still don't like flying, even five years later." Regulus tried not to sound too harsh. He knew it was still something of a sore point with his lover. Even as teens, Regulus hadn't been able to help Gideon much, hadn't taught him much by way of learning to fly properly.

Gideon shrugged. "Whatever. That's beside the point, luv. I…" He slipped his hand into Regulus' pocket, entwining their fingers. "I just like seeing you in daylight, I guess. Consider it a fetish."

Regulus gave him a long look but didn't smile. "Gideon…it's completely overcast today."

Yet despite the remark, Gideon laughed as if he'd been found out but hadn't a care in the world. "So it is! So sue me. Don't you like the smell of the rain during autumn?"

Honestly, Regulus wasn't sure. The rain often dredged up unpleasant memories for him. The most recent one was probably that yet another letter he'd sent to his brother, Sirius, had been sent back. It didn't seem to matter that time had passed, or that Regulus had weakened the Dark Lord to the point where a child protected by his mother's love had defeated him, or that Regulus had gotten word to Sirius and Lupin through Gideon that Pettigrew was a traitor. It didn't matter that Sirius and Lupin were raising their godson.

Somehow, Regulus was certain, Sirius would always hold Regulus accountable for the one thing he couldn't've fixed: He had not been able to save James and Lily Potter.

Regulus shook his head. He had to stop thinking about his current issues. After all, the rain didn't remind him only of those. It also reminded him of his suicide mission to the cave with Kreacher, and how the house-elf had freaked out and gone against his own judgment to bring Gideon to Regulus, and how Regulus had been taken to Dumbledore and Snape and somehow—_somehow_—saved. Then again, the rain also reminded him of his last Hogwarts years, and growing close to Gideon and stealing kisses on muddy school grounds while trying to get Gideon to fly. Granted, the rain also recalled the dreary dampness that permanently clung to Twelve Grimmauld Place, but as Regulus didn't live there anymore and wasn't even welcome (Mother and Father were gone, thankfully, but Sirius lived there now), Regulus decided to think positively about the precipitation. So he fixed his gaze once more on Gideon.

"What? Something on my face?" The redhead ran a hand over his face just to check.

Though he could recall a time when he never would've interacted with someone like Gideon or even have responded to him, Regulus smiled easily and shook his head. He squeezed Gideon's hand in his pocket. "No. You're fine."

Gideon pouted. "Just fine? Well, that's a bit unfair."

True. Regulus was teasing him. Gideon always looked better than "fine." Even now, when the rest of the world looked gray, Gideon's hair was as red as the light of a spell, and his blue eyes seemed to pop defiantly in the colorless view. Gideon made the rain…pleasant.

Or so Regulus thought.

His nose caught the scent of something strange, and the Black brother held the cuff of the sleeve of his free hand up to his nose. "Sweet Salazar… Gideon, do you smell that? That's awful!"

Gideon sniffed and looked around. "Well, I guess it can't be helped, when it rains… And we _are_ walking in the city, too…"

"Why? What is it?"

The older man gave him a surprised look. "You never…? In all our years at Hogwarts, you never _once_ encountered this smell?"

Regulus furrowed his brow. "No. What? Should I have?"

The Gryffindor looked around a moment more and then pointed behind Regulus. He turned him around in that direction and pointed again. "It's probably somewhere in there. Let's go check it out," he said suddenly, delight in his tone.

"…no."

"Reg, just—"

"I'm not going anywhere near that alley. It smells like a Stink Bomb went off in there."

"Well, there's too much clutter for me to go."

Regulus gave Gideon a long look and gritted his teeth. He looked the other man up and down, ignoring the grin that appeared on his freckled face. Bollocks. Gideon had always been taller than him and, despite not playing a sport like Quidditch, he was a cross between lanky and his sister, Molly's, stockiness. The alleyway definitely was too narrow for Gideon even to stick his big head in. And, unfortunately, Gideon had long ago managed to convince Regulus that he was the only one Regulus would do anything to please. Stupid thing called love. It always got Regulus into such messes.

"Please check it out for me, Reg?"

The smaller man groaned. He didn't even have to catch those blue eyes. All he had to do was hear the request in his voice. "…all right. But if I come out of there smelling like garbage, you wait on me hand and foot tonight, you cheeky bastard."

Gideon's grin turned into a smirk, and Regulus had to look away. Sometimes Gideon was more Slytherin than Regulus….

It was indeed a tight fit in the alley because of the Dumpsters lined on both sides and the bags of refuse spilling out all around them. Regulus took an even more cautious second step in, holding his breath as best he could. When something squished underneath his foot, he willed himself not to look down. Inferi trying to drag him to a watery grave, he could handle. Having possibly stepped in shit…he didn't even want to think about it.

It turned out that he couldn't hold his breath for long, so he tried casting a Bubble Head Charm. Ah. Much better, so long as no Muggle came their way. Plus, it blocked out the horrid stench from earlier. In fact, Regulus wasn't even sure what he was looking for, now that his mind and olfactory system had been cleared. He poked and prodded a few things with his wand, lit at the tip with _Lumos_, but he found nothing of worth.

Regulus turned to call back to Gideon that there was nothing and that Gideon would have to pay up—but then movement out of the corner of his left eye caught his attention. The movement became a rustling, and then a furry head popped up between two bags of garbage.

It was a kitten. And it mewed pitifully.

Now, at this point in time, Regulus would've loved to handle it all manly and suavely. He'd been born into a damn near ancient bloodline and spoon-fed dignity before he'd even nursed. He'd also grown up in a world full of cats, owls, and toads, so it shouldn't have come as such a shock to him. He'd also learned how to act cool by watching his big brother from the time they were little.

Instead, Regulus gingerly reached out, patted the appreciative creature, picked it up by the scruff, and tucked it into his jacket. He turned around and pushed past Gideon out of the exit.

"We're keeping it."

Gideon gave him an odd look. "Keeping what…?"

Regulus felt his cheeks grow warm under Gideon's scrutiny as he flashed the prize in his coat pocket. "That. Now, let's go home."

- ^-^3

Truthfully, if Regulus had been thinking right, he wouldn't have come home this way.

But he _hadn't_ been thinking right. He was so focused on cleaning up the kitten that it hadn't even occurred to him the ramifications if he Splinched himself with a cat. Good Merlin… A wizard–cat hybrid—now _that_ would've been scary.

He also hadn't explained anything to Gideon, but he knew Gideon would understand. After all Regulus had done before he'd atoned for his sins… Regulus treasured life now, even life that wasn't his.

Gideon knocked on the bathroom's doorjamb at their place. "Hey. Brought you some coffee."

The coffee smelled wonderful at this point, since Regulus and the kitten had just had the longest bath of their lives. But at least no one smelled like waste anymore. Regulus took the cup and gulped it down.

"Whoa, slow down, Reg. What's the rush for?"

"Well, we brought it home. But we have to figure out how to take care of it—her," he emphasized with a shake of his head.

Gideon raised a curious eyebrow. "That's only just occurring to you now?"

"I don't know. I acted on impulse."

The other man sighed and chuckled. "You know…there was a time when you would've planned every moment of your life carefully."

Regulus sulked. "So?"

"Oh, I'm not objecting. I just like how you can still be a tad childish sometimes. The little prince." There was a gleam in his eye, and Regulus scoffed and rolled his own eyes. Hand it to Gideon to make a pun about Regulus' name at a time like this.

The couple moved to the living room, where they sat on the couch with the kitten between them, balanced on the top of a mountain made from her towel, looking like a king. Regulus frowned as the kitten mewled at them both and batted Regulus' hand. "…you're right. I wasn't thinking. I didn't even ask you."

Gideon shrugged and sipped at his tea. "It's our home, Reg. Not yours, not mine. _Ours_. You really didn't have to ask."

"But you've never really seemed interested in a pet."

"That's 'cause Fabian and I had a toad before school. Let's just say Mum didn't let us have another. But Molly and Arthur have a cat for their kids, and she seems nice."

"I've never had a pet…but we're not kids, either." Regulus' frown deepened as regret moved into his heart. He'd cleaned the precious beast up, like making a promise that she'd have a new home. But now…it didn't seem like such a good idea.

Without looking, Regulus knew Gideon was observing him (just as he'd always done, the perceptive git). "…how about this? We can give her a trial run. Care for her and such. If it doesn't work out, we can turn her over to one of those Muggle shelters. Or maybe have the clerk at Eeylops check her out and see if she's magically inclined and might make a nice familiar for someone. Or I could ask around. Maybe Molly's cat wouldn't mind a friend. Or Fabian—" Gideon stopped. "Well, Fabian could use the company," he finished quietly, not mentioning the loss of Dorcas, though Regulus felt for Gideon, knowing his twin would probably never recover from losing the love of his life during the war.

"I repeat, we're not kids," Regulus muttered.

But Gideon smiled. "So maybe we've just _had_ one?"

Regulus bit his lip and stared at the kitten, stroking her head and refusing to let Gideon see how red his face had become. Gideon could be so infuriatingly charming sometimes….

- ^-^3

The first night was lovely, albeit uncomfortable. Regulus had demanded they sleep out in the living room with the kitten—they still hadn't a name for her—in order to accustom her to their home. Of course, that ended with Regulus and Gideon squeezing onto the couch, stretched out along it, with the kitten in her towel near their heads.

When the next day arrived, Regulus stayed home and played with her while Gideon went out for supplies. "Cats have got to have milk," Gideon had stated.

"We don't know how old she is. Couldn't she be on solid foods yet?" Regulus had asked.

"Nah. She looks about a month or so along. She'll still be on milk."

Of course, Regulus hadn't taken that to mean that Gideon would return with two bags of supplies, most of which seemed to be bottles of the white liquid.

"What on Earth did you get?" the snake asked him.

Gideon's face was flushed with excitement. "Oh, it was brilliant! I went to Eeylops, and they had nothing for raising kittens—that's 'cause they only sell adult animals, apparently—so I went to one of those Muggle grocery market things and went to buy milk. It turns out they have a whole aisle dedicated to pets, did you know that? They've got things like toys and food—even litter for cats."

"Litter?"

"Yeah. Apparently some Muggles like keeping them indoors, so the litter's for a kitty loo."

Regulus made a face. "That's ridiculous. Cats are meant to roam."

"That's what I thought. But I described the kitten to some old woman who was buying her own supplies, and she directed me to—of all places—the _baby_ aisle."

At that, Regulus took a step back. "Ah…Gideon, in case you haven't noticed… We're both _men_, and that's a _cat_…"

"Hush, silly! No, young cats are bottle-fed if they haven't a mother." He produced a quart of milk and a baby bottle. "So here you go."

"I'm not bottle-feeding a cat, Gid. I'd rather call Cousin Narcissa an ugly beast in front of Lucius."

"Well, I don't know how to do it." Gideon frowned. "I'm the baby in my family."

"And so am I!"

Gideon skimmed the directions on the bottle's label. "Hmm. We have to wash this first. And it says milk should be served warm…hmm."

Regulus went through the rest of the items. He seized the brush. "While you're doing that, I'll be with the kitten."

"Hey, no fair! Regulus…!"

- ^-^3

Gideon managed to put things away and clean several of the goods before attempting to feed the kitten. He warmed the milk with a cautious hand and a Heating Charm and then filled the bottle.

However, time flew by while the men tried to get the kitten to eat.

"Reg, hold her still," Gideon grumbled for the umpteenth time.

"It's not my fault," Regulus replied as the kitten continually rejected the idea of having the bottle shoved in her face. He sighed as she climbed out of his arms and jumped onto the floor, walking away and marking the furniture by rubbing against everything.

The redhead grimaced. "She's a _kitten_, for crying out loud. We're two adult men. It can't be this hard looking after her."

Regulus shrugged. He glanced around the furniture, searching for the cinnamon-striped brown tail…and not finding it. He stood up. "Bloody hell… Gideon. I don't see her. Do you?"

And thus began an evening of unwilling hide-and-seek played with a kitten that was yet to be house-trained.

(It was all right in the end. Regulus eventually found her by her towel in the bathroom, and Gideon got a good grip on her and finally got her to drink the milk, even if it _was_ three in the morning.)

- ^-^3

The next few days were like a repeat of the first feeding. When the kitten wasn't playing, she preferred to roam the cottage and make Regulus and Gideon go on a mad scavenger hunt for her. Half the time, Gideon fell asleep with her in his arms because they'd been up all night. Sometimes meals even seemed to escape the men, and Gideon took to rummaging through the cupboards.

"We should go shopping soon," Gideon bemoaned. "We've only worried about feeding _her_," he said, slightly annoyed, as Regulus scratched behind her ears while she strutted along the countertop. "And, Reg, get her _off_ the counter!"

Regulus did nothing, though, because the kitten always refused to listen and he hadn't it in him to train her otherwise. Besides, it didn't really bother Gideon all that much. If it did, Gideon would've been more adamant with Regulus and the kitten both. And when Regulus caught Gideon making faces at the kitten and teasing her to get her to play with him, Regulus knew they'd never get on Gideon's bad side.

"But we have to remember to feed ourselves," the redhead murmured once he finally restocked. "Cheese, bread, gillywater, cold pumpkin pie, butterbeer…"

The raven-haired man gave his love a look. "So no ingredients to make anything nice for us?" Regulus was a little let down.

Gideon shook his head. "No, I thought of something, hence the basil, tomatoes, pasta."

"You're going to cook?"

"I'm no gourmand, but even _I_ can manage, Reg."

So Regulus grew quiet and let Gideon get to work. He liked watching Gideon spread out in the kitchen, cooking for them. He even made sure he and the kitten didn't interfere much, but it was a little hard when she insisted on sniffing the various herbs.

"Don't let her eat the basil, Reg!" Gideon scolded.

"Then move it out of reach." Regulus paused. "Hey."

"What?" the other wizard asked, disgruntled.

"How about naming her 'Basil'?"

Wholly expecting another reprimand, Regulus was surprised when Gideon barked out a laugh. "Oh, good Godric…! _Really_?"

Regulus glared at his back. "Well, why not?"

Gideon shook his head. "Sometimes, I love how transparent you can be."

"I sense I was made fun of."

"No, luv, just appreciated." Gideon glanced over his shoulder. "Reg?"

"Yeah?" The shorter wizard sighed and picked Basil up in his arms.

"We're definitely keeping her."

Their eyes met, and each held the gaze for a full minute. Then Gideon returned his attention to making their meal, and Regulus released a slow but content sigh as butterflies twirled in his stomach. He ignored them, however, and went and teased Gideon by placing Basil on his shoulders, as though he had to give the cat a piggy-back ride while cooking.

Yes, they were going to keep Basil. And maybe Gideon had been right before, too—maybe they had had a child, and maybe they'd learn to do things on the fly. And maybe Regulus would make some new, even better memories of the rain to replace the rest of the bad ones.

- ^-^3

**So yeah. Firstly, I wanna say that there are quite a few pieces of this story that come from/are inspired by Morghen's awesome oneshot, "we will be the last ones standing." The Regideon pairing aside, it's still one of my most favorite fanfics ever (which is saying a lot, 'cuz I've written and read a lot in my almost ten years on the site). I still reread it from time-to-time, tearing up every single bloody time… GAH. Too many feels. Hence the happy oneshot. ;P I really like characters as fathers—even if only to a kitty. X3 Ah, and Basil is Mor's OC, too, I should note.**

**Thanks for reading, and please review!**

**Happy birthday, twin. I hope you have a year full of fluffy moments of your own, hon! *huggles***

**-mew-tsubaki :}**


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